Club link

ABSTRACT

The hosel of a club may be bent to change lie, loft and face angle of clubs made of 431; 17-4 and 15-5 stainless steel. These may be bent to a maximum of two degrees. Nickel and iron clubs may be bent to bend a maximum of four degrees. Club not bendable for lie, loft, and face angle are short based clubs; no hosel metal clubs; and any club heads made of tilatium, tri-alloy, ceomets, duralomium, graphite, wood and other materials to brittle to bend. 17-4 and 15-5 stainless are considered not bendable for most club makers because they require special bending equipment. The lie, loft and face angle of all non-bendable clubs may be changed by using the Club Link.

[0001] Keith P. Ingram, living at 1003 Geneva Street Prattville, Ala.36066, developed this Invention. I am a citizen of the United States ofAmerica. I was born in Fort Payne, Ala. on Nov. 21, 1921. I am the soledeveloper of this invention.

[0002] In the past the lie, loft, and face angles of golf club headswere changed by bending of the golf club head housel. The development ofmetals too hard to bend made it impossible for the club makers tocontinue this practice.

[0003] The Club Link is one way to change the lie angle, loft and faceangle on both irons and woods without bending. Included herein are fivedrawings that illustrate the useage of the Club Link which is insertedbetween the shaft and club head to change the lie angle, loft and faceangle of both irons and woods.

[0004] Drawing 1-5

[0005] Drawings one of five is a description of the golf head to golfshaft with the Club Link.

[0006] Drawing 2-5

[0007] Drawing two of five is a description of the lie angle of a golfclub head.

[0008] Drawing 3-5

[0009] Drawing three of five is a description of the face angle of agolf club head.

[0010] Drawing 4-5

[0011] Drawing four of five is a description of the golf club head, golfshaft and club link made in one piece.

[0012] Drawing 5-5

[0013] Drawing five of five is a description of the loft angle of a golfclub.

[0014] Lie is the angle between the centerline of the shaft and ground,when the bottom of the club is flat on the ground Face angle is theangle that the club makes with respect to the Shaft, when the wood isproperly soled. Club loft is the angle between the golf shaft andclubface (drawing 5-5). When the shaft and wood club face is parallelthe angle is called straight (drawing 3-5). When the toe of club is moreforward than the heel the club face angle is closed in relation to theshaft (drawing 3-5). When the face angle is more forward than the toe,in relation to centerline of shaft, the angle is open or slice (drawing3-5). The heel of a club is where the shaft is attached and the toe ofthe club is on the opposite end of the club head. A golf club consistsof three parts: The club head, shaft and grip. The Club Link will beepoxied to both the club head and club shaft.

[0015] The golf club head, shaft, and grip may be made of any materialor shape that conforms to the rules of the United States GolfAssociation. All parts of the club shall be fixed so that the club isone unit. The club shall not be designed to be adjustable except forweight.

[0016] The golf head to golf shaft Club Link, in the following pages,will be referred to as the Club Link. It is made of round stock, bent inthe middle (drawing 1-5). The shaft link can be any length but the shortlink is preferable. The golf shaft can be manufactured with the degreebend at the end of the shaft, where the shaft is attached to the hosel.The Club Link will be made on one-half degree increments from one-halfdegree to ten degrees.

[0017] The Club Link will be made of any high strength lightweightmaterial, so as not to affect the swing weight of the club. The ClubLink may be forged or machined.

[0018] The club link may be chromed to improve the cosmetics. Ferrulesand other cosmetics may be added when assembling. The Club Link isassembled to the club head and shaft by epoxy.

[0019] The hosel opening of the irons are 0.370 inches diameter andapproximately one and one quarter inch deep. The hosel opening for woodsis 0.335 inches in diameter, and approximately one and one quarter inchdeep. The small circular end of the link is 0.335 inches in diameter forwoods, and 0.370 inches in diameter for irons. When assembling this endit will epoxy to the hosel. The shaft will epoxy into the larger end ofthe Club Link.

[0020] In the following pages, when a statement is made about thehitting or travel of a golf ball, assume that a hitting machine is used.It has no swing faults.

[0021] When the lie of a club is correct, both heel and toe are flat onthe ground or both are equal distant from the ground. When a club hasboth a correct lie and a straight clubface (drawing 3-5) the ball whenhit will travel perpendicular to club face or straight to the target.

[0022] Assuming the face angle is correct, the effects of and incorrectlie are as follows: When the lie is upright, the heel is on the groundand the toe is off the ground, with a straight face, the ball when hitwill travel to the left of the target line and the line of flight willbe perpendicular to the face of the club head. When the lie is too flat,the toe of the club is on the ground and the heel is off the ground. Theball when hit will travel to the right of the target line. This isassuming the face angle is straight. The line of flight will beperpendicular to the face of the club head.

[0023] The lie of a club can be changed by assembling the club head,shaft and Club Link. The angle of the Club Link is installed parallel tothe club face. The club maker will choose the correct degree angle (two,three, four, etc. degrees) to make the club have a flat lie for thegolfer. In some cases decreasing or increasing the club shaft length cancorrect the lie angle.

[0024] Rotating shaft with the sole flat on the ground can change faceangle of iron clubs. Woods have a longer sole area, unlike iron clubsthe face angle cannot be changed by rotating the shaft, with the sole ofclub flat on the ground (drawing 3-5). A club is changed to a closedface, by assembling the shaft club head and the club link with the anglebend in the link pointing to the front of the club. Using a one-halfdegree club link makes a slightly closed face. To increase the angle ofa closed face, a link with two, three, four and etc. Degrees must beused. A closed face club helps correct a slice. A club maker willdetermine the link needed by the golfer.

[0025] When the Club Link is used to change the face angle of a golfclub, the loft will be changed. Changing the face angle of a club to atwo-degree hook face, it will decrease the loft of club. Changing theface angle of a club to a two-degree open face, it will increase theloft.

[0026] Changing the face angle of a club is an effort to correct a flawin the golfers swing, stance and etc. A golfer with a perfect swing,with a club with correct lie and face angle, will hit the ballperpendicular to the golf club face and straight to the target.

[0027] A club is changed to an open face by assembling the clubface,shaft and Club Link with the angle bend of the Club Link pointing to theback of the club head. A slight open face is accomplished by using aone-degree club link. To increase the open face, a Club Link with two,three, four, and etc. degrees, must be used. An open face club helpscorrect a draw. A club maker will determine the link needed by thegolfer.

[0028] An added feature of the club link is that both lie and face anglemay be changed on a club by one Club Link. For instance, a Club Linkwith a four degree angle, pointing to the front, at forty five degrees,shaft to face angle, will change the lie angle two degrees and a faceangle of two degrees. With the angle bend pointing forty-five degrees tothe back of the club, it will change the lie angle two degrees and faceangle two degrees, in reference to shaft centerline, makes the clubface, a two degree closed face. Closed and open faced, the face isangled slightly a few degrees off parallel to the centerline of theshaft. For closed face the toe of the club is angled slightly a fewdegrees toward the front of the club in relation to the centerline ofthe shaft. Assuming the lie is correct the effects of a closed face theball should travel to the left for right-handed golfers. The ball willtravel perpendicular to the club face. The travel of the ball will be tothe right for left handed golfers.

What I claim as my invention is the golf club link which will give thegolfer the opportunity to change:
 1. The lie angle of a club.
 2. Theface angle of a club.
 3. One link can change both the lie angle & faceangle of a club.